Feng Qing #17 Pure Bud Golden Needle Black Tea -Yunnan Sourcing, Spring 2021
4.96g, 150ml ceramic gaiwan
Dry tea
Appearance:
Fully gold with some dark brown accents interspersed
Mostly full intact buds, very fuzzy leaves
It’s one of the prettiest black teas I’ve seen.
Smell: Deeply fruity, prunes, figs, candied stone fruits, sweet
Wet tea
Appearance:
Dark khaki brown with dark brown accents
Intact fuzzy golden buds
Smell: Almost musky, Figs, Prunes, sweet, light animal notes, brown sugar, creamy
Infusion 1: 212°F, 150ml, 10s
Appearance: golden amber, rich, bright, clear, almost jewel tones
Smell: light animal notes, light prunes, sweet
Taste:
Prune retronasal action. Creamy taste, crisp mouthfeel, candied fruit, a little musky on the finish/back end. Almost savory, sweet, no bitterness
Really nice, pleasant. I like this a lot. It’s fruity and crisp. Pleasant drying astringency.
Infusion 2: 212°F 15s 150ml
Appearance: bright vivid amber, clear
Smell: deeply fruity, candied stone fruits. Fruitier than the first infusion. Light muskiness, sweet. Dates? Prunes? Not quite prunes. Richer, brown sugar
Taste:. No retronasal smells before swallowing. The finish was sweet, lightly fruity with indistinct stone fruits. Sweet, but a little hollow and watery. It lacks body. It’s still crisp, but empty and not mouth-filling. It feels like a fourth infusion of a medium quality tea.
Infusion 3: 212°F 30s 150ml
Appearance: rich amber, vivid, clear
Smell: sweet figs, watery. Lacks body.
Taste: Empty retronasal. Very weak finish. It basically tastes like nothing. It’s vaguely sweet water. It doesn’t even taste fruity. Extremely weak body, crisp mouthfeel, thin, watery.
The first infusion is amazing, but after that it completely falls flat. I’ve never had a tea fall apart like this and it makes me sad because it started phenomenally.
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Fruity, Muscatel, Prune, Stonefruit, Sweet
